SCOTLAND is set to have a new law on religious hatred despite the decision by Westminster to abandon plans for similar legislation in England and Wales.
Executive ministers at Holyrood confirmed last night that a cross-party working party has been set up to report in February on the best way of introducing a criminal offence north of the border.
On Thursday the Government backed down in the face of continuing opposition in the House of Lords to plans for a crime of incitement to religious hatred in order to secure the passage of emergency anti-terrorist legislation.
A spokesman for the Executive said: “This does not affect our plans and we are conducting a review of the best way to proceed. There are some specific Scottish issues to consider. We come back to the fact that this is what devolution is all about.
“The aim is to ensure that any new legislation is workable and effective”, he added.
Executive ministers feel that the issue of religious hatred north of the border can be incorporated into current Scottish criminal law by specific legislation in the Scottish Parliament. One of the main areas of concern in Scotland, to be addressed by the new law, is the violence, fuelled by bigotry, that accompanies football matches in Glasgow between Rangers and Celtic.
However, legal experts in Scotland have warned that any new crime of religious hatred could result in hundreds, if not thousands, of football supporters being arrested every time the teams meet.
They point out that that could lead to further burdens for an over-stretched court system.
Another question to be answered by the Executive working party is whether the Executive itself should introduce fresh legislation or whether ministers should simply embrace a private member’s Bill sponsored by Donald Gorrie, the Liberal Democrat MSP.
Mr Gorries’s Bill would not create a specific new offence, but would make sectarianism and religious hatred an aggravation of existing criminal offences.
It would mean that those convicted of asault or other crimes of violence would face stiffer sentences if religious hatred was proved to have been a motivation.
The Bill would also seek to impose a code of conduct for public bodies aimed at clamping down on religious hatred.